Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-08-06
NARCISSA.

| Prov idence To dispose OF some butter anu
cheese She said NArcissa had been " prac
ticing in the Isolated Company's Office" and
| added that " MIR. Van Shoot says she dooss
ius rate" Something In the old lAdy'i
homely though sincere manner enlisted onI
managers interest, and knowing that vacan,
cien on the Insulated Line, recently estab
/ iished by MIR. Van Choat were few. owing u
i the limited number Of offices, he told hei
mother that he thought perhaps NArcisss
would do TO succt cd the retiring operator ai
Howgste.
uThst will I've CLEVER" returned the mother.
"l ain't never had no chance to 60 nowhere
myself, and l want Narcissay To git some
polish onto her by going away ,hss from N.,,.. mum
should come down next day, and II ahe
PASSED = satisfactory examination, 20 up IN
HowgAte At onca Sne dawned ON us bright
aud early. say dswned ON us sdviselv, Tor
she WAS " N pretty ~ little red shoes, and
wherever she went likewise went sunshine.
There were five OF us In the American COM
pany's ctlice, all young ana single, and We
were madly In love with her ON sight On
but she WAS pretty, and the little rogue
seemed to be perfectly oblivious Of II, too
which rendered her trebly bewitching She
wss what the country people called bright
but she was by no means cultivated. Whiie
her speech ran less luxuriantly ~ negatives
than her worthy mothers, 1t was faulty,
and II WAS distur binH tn say the least, 70 near
her calculate, d" You don't say so,' or "Dew
tell, when We explained the modus oper-
audi OF trAnsacting business In large ONCE.
But whstsver faults Of culture were hers, she
was 4 vision of delight viewed ~ q physical
creation. Such bonny brown hair with .
tinve OF sunshine In II: such chln
such teeth, and such u plump nRure
1t would have been sheer blindness not to
have fallen in love with her. None OF us sui
fered from impaired vision, and We became
enamored with one accord We read OF dam.
ask cheeks in our nSturer years ana IN
stinctiveiy think of the bloom OF youth, lily
white and pearl powder. We are apt more
over. To revive that vsrworkei joke OF Sher.
idsn's, aud observe cynically, YES her
color comes and goes comes IN The
afternoon, and Is gone in the morning"
Rut no one who ever saw NSrcisss, but
would believe In dAmask skin.
Her check vas like Ca,harinc pear.
The side that's next the sun.
sm afraid a. I grow older and more con-
scisntious, that Naicissa was not an expert
operator, but we made report to the man
ager which secured her the HowgAte office.
tie WAS not . Morse operator himself, and
trusted us implicitly. ] suppose that II by
any chance she could have been retained At
Prov idsnce, We should have agreed on = fsv-
orable verdict, whatever qualifications might
have been requisite To I've sure, she made
an "f' for s"w" and she was 10 prodigxl
with her dots, that IL the surplus ones had
been counted and checked against her, as
less lines her salary would not have paid the
tolls. But in our eyes thoee were but trifies
In those glad wears, and looking down into the
pure depths OF her violet eyes, lthouRht she
was An angel, and almost came to thing that
k ~ WAS All Improvement on "t ~
A. she said Il to Fred Ford who had lust told
her from the switch that she sent ike man.
He blushed a little ~ she naiveiy injured
how long he had read by sound. ! am not
sure but she said by pound but sbsted my
admiration not one iotA
Oh woman, woman, ye impale us on q
lance a. long a. life! Had fate not willed II
lurking beneath the smile that wreaths thy
baby lips or see 1t darting towards US from
the dancing eyes OF maid or matron falr. a.
it Ia, We dangle near thee, aiways-pierced
anu when We dealt the painless blow which
makes man thiEe forever That WAS long
time sgo, little Narcissa. l wonder where
you are to- day, and wonder, too, II you are
a. happy and contentsd A. you were once
sweet and winning! "The years are swind.
lers" saws the singer, "they make us old be-
fore they make us good" but hope you are
not old, even though the years hare crumbled
beneath us sadly since that radiant day OF
meeting. Perchance, you are waiting light
nings somew here in New England, but more
likely you are married and have merry,
romping children piucking ut your gown 70
share their mothers smile trust that peace,
prosperity and all good things surround you
wherever you may be- and IL you sre ~
pretty a. OF old YOU must make happy even
the placid mirror which reflects your sunny
lace.
Pardon the digression, my reader but 1t is
80 natural to tall to musing that | could not
help it. When you grow older and your
brown locks or tresses are streaked with
silver, and younger men and women are
doing the courting, At which you are now 70
clever, you will find yourself indulging In
retrospect just ~ l do. NsrcissA's debut Of
Howgate WAS not marked by unusual bril-.
lisncy, but the distance from our city was
short, and one OF us was pretty sure 70 10
with her during the better part OF the day.
Occasionally, to my regret two OF US were In
attendance W do her work, and that was
state OF things much to be dePlored. morn.
ings and evenings, however, owing 70 the
alone, and o. she tumbled out our call aud
signed, the effect was demoralizng. The sig-
mai Tor Howgate WAS "Hw," and Nsrctssa
favored extremely long dsshss. The II, >"
generally came s..ggsr'ng IN adns Tn ,hs
gave her call Q weird, aad sound suggestive
OF cline where the thermOmeter would be
Inadequate. Sometimes, In mt OF Rener0sity
with her dots, she rendered "peil.' but our
periods of depression we're only transient, for
on seeing her We strsightwsy forgot her inhr.
mites oi skill, aud sst and feasted our eyes
on surprising beauty. Through one entire
summer we vibrstsd between alteration OF
| Nsrcissa and disenchantment, because OF her
peculiaritiss, tslegraphic aud otherwise.
Fred Ford, who was the oldest OF us oil,
/ ceased his attentions one september day for
| personal reasOnA He plumed himself on II
accurate and finished sending. Visiting Mar
cissa in the afternoon he found message IN
/ delivered, which he had sent In the morning.
| "This message was addressed to Miss II. A.
/ sherman, not ~ you have Ito Mise Hash.
| ermsn," said Fred. "Thst WAS the way you
sent it," said Narcissa, dsmurely. "oh!
dare say returned Fred sarcastically.
"Hsve you notified New York yet that you
failed to find Miss fisherman ?" he inquired.
"That would have disclosed the error" NC
| indeed" she replied carelossly, "the mes
sage In paid 1 didn't fret myseif about T. =
/ Fred WAS not entertaining In the interval t1
train time, and Nsrcissa, l fear, pouted
little. Fred regretted his quick temper
aitsrwsrd, l think. Nsrcissa mad probably
| been told ON good authority that money wv
the objective point in the telegraph business
and the message being prepaid she regarded
It small matter whether or not II was DC
| uyerod. Fred used tn say, sometimes, tha
he was going to make il up with her, bu
when the war broke out he went away sud
denly, requesting me 70 tell NsrciAss he sen
| her his love.
| Ned Jones retired a. an sdmirer along II
October after attempting thirty seven times
| one day, TO got the signature "A. II. Okte'
| To q station on NaIciAsa's wire. She va
| anxious to obtain circuit, and 10 her, In CON
| mon with great many Of her sex W. NJ
was the signal 10 claim It
Poor Nsaidy! ! think he loved Nsrcissa
| but he Was more iastidiOus than the rest q
| u.s. and he died OF Q color In aesthetic pain,
| fiRurstiveIy speak ing, and relinquished hoI